


I send a message (and I hope it gets through)

by rendawnie



Category: Pentagon (Korean Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Office, Awkward Flirting, Confessions, Delivery Boy Wooseok, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Secret Messages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 14:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9494843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rendawnie/pseuds/rendawnie
Summary: Every day, an order would come through from a familiar e-mail address. It was always for McDonald’s. It was always for the same meal: Big Mac combo,emphatically no pickles, medium Coke, no ice. Cheerful, positive note to be handwritten on the wrapper.Wooseok never made the pickle mistake again.





	

“Hwitaek.”

“What.”

“I’ve been parked on the freeway for forty-five minutes. I live here now. Is there a cot in the back of this van? A pillow, perhaps? I could take a nice long nap and still be sitting here when I woke up.” Wooseok gripped the steering wheel nervously with the hand that wasn’t gripping his phone, staring at the wall of cars stopped in front of him. It was his first day at his new job, his very first delivery, and already, things were going swimmingly.

On the other end of the phone, Hwitaek sighed. “I mean, you can’t help it if you got stuck in traffic. I just wish the delivery had been for anyone else, honestly.”

That sounded awfully ominous.

Wooseok swallowed hard. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with this person? I don’t want to talk to any unpleasant people after this whole fiasco I’m already having, Hwitaek,” he said desperately, aware that his voice was taking on a pleading tone as he spoke to his brand new boss.

Hwitaek just chuckled a little. “If Jinho’s there, you won’t have to talk to anyone unpleasant, promise. But if he’s out on an errand, and it’s just Shinwon...I’d start praying now. I’ve already sent a text telling him you’re running late, and all he said back was, “Mmm.”

Wooseok’s jaw dropped as he moved the van forward approximately three inches. “‘Mmm’? ‘ _Mmm_ ’?? Who says that? That’s not how you respond to things!” He was almost yelling, alone in this van that was starting to smell like the fast food Shinwon had ordered for lunch, smell like it in a way that made Wooseok sure he’d be catching that same scent for days after this delivery, and that it would probably trigger some sort of reaction from him that no one who happened to be in his presence would enjoy.

Hwitaek laughed some more, but it was less confident. Now he just sounded...regretful.

“Yes. Well. Shinwon doesn’t respond to a lot of things properly,” he muttered, and Wooseok couldn't stop a small whine coming out of his mouth. He was out of things to say, out of questions to ask and filled instead with terrified indignance. He leaned back in the driver’s seat, stretching his long legs as best he could and closing his eyes for a brief moment. He had time. Finally, he licked his lips and sat back up, just in time to see that the two stalled cars that had been slowing freeway traffic to a halt were finally being cleared, and things were starting to move again, albeit at a much less accelerated pace than he would have preferred.

“Hwitaek, we’re moving again. I’m going to make it,” Wooseok bubbled out nearly deliriously, almost ashamed that he’d already put so many cracks in the facade of his gruffness this morning. This afternoon. Whichever it was, now. He squinted at the exit signs, pulling into the right lane at the very last second. “What time is it, anyway?” The radio in the van didn’t work. Hadn’t in years, according to Hwitaek.

There was a pause before Hwitaek replied. “Shit. It’s nearly one-thirty. You’re almost an hour late.”

Wooseok had been about to respond when Hwitaek went on.

“If you’re not back by a quarter past two, I’ll start planning your funeral.”

*

Ten minutes later, Wooseok was pulling up to the curb of the giant office building Shinwon ordered his meals to. As he got out of the van, dislodging the hopefully still hot meal from the bag with his other deliveries, which were all also late, Wooseok stared up at the cold, black glass that wrapped around the outside of the tall structure. It was intimidating. Wooseok didn’t belong in places like this. He just wanted to make his delivery and make it out alive. He took a deep breath, left the keys in the car and let it idle, and went inside.

It was only once he was in the elevator, on his way up to the very top floor, that Wooseok realized he was sweating. It wasn’t just a dainty, delicate sheen, either. Along with having no radio, the van also had no air conditioning, and Wooseok was practically raining. It wasn’t a good look, he could tell as he stared at his blurry reflection in the elevator door. But it would have to do.

He got off the elevator when it finally reached the top, took exactly one step in the first direction his feet wanted to go, since he didn’t actually know where the hell he was supposed to be, anyway, and then a much smaller, but remarkably compact object slammed directly into his midsection.

Wooseok let out a sound that was something between a groan and a gasp, but the noise couldn’t really decide on either. The object that had run right into him made a similar noise, and when it moved away, Wooseok could see what it was. Who it was.

It was a guy, and he was handsome, and he also looked equal amounts of stressed and scared shitless. He’d been carrying a stack of papers, but they were on the floor now, along with Shinwon’s food, dropped from the force of the impact. Wooseok groaned again, and so did the guy, staring at the jumbled mess.

“Oh no. Oh,  _no._ Are these...are these _pickles_??” he asked incredulously, kneeling to the floor immediately to pick up the discarded pieces of produce that had fallen off the burger. “I said no pickles. _No pickles whatsoever_. Shinwon _hates_ pickles. He’s going to _kill me._ I’m actually going to _die_.”

The guy was muttering to himself, and Wooseok was just watching, shocked, when he remembered that he should probably help, since it was his gangly limbs and unnecessary height that had gotten them into this situation in the first place. He knelt down too, his face closer to the guy’s than he’d meant for it to be, and began gathering little pieces of diced onion off the cold, marble floor as best he could. He checked in the bag, but there were no napkins. Of course there were no napkins. He hadn’t even bothered to check if the food was right. He’d been too concerned about making it to his destination on time. It was his first day and his first job, and Wooseok was royally screwing it up.

Sighing, he sat down on the floor after a moment. “Why’s he going to kill _you_? I’m the one who made the mistake. I’m the one who’s late, with the wrong burger,” Wooseok pointed out dejectedly. The guy glanced up for the briefest of seconds. Wooseok liked his smile, or the smile he was trying to pull onto his face.

Unfortunately, it didn’t stay for long. Wooseok watched as he examined the wrapper of the burger, sighing for what felt like the twentieth time in two minutes. “You didn’t even write his note on the burger…” he murmured forlornly. Wooseok’s eyes widened, and he couldn’t help the snort-laugh that came out of him without warning.

“Those were _real_ instructions? I thought that was a joke!” he protested, staring at the guy. “This is a grown man we’re talking about, right?”

The guy nodded. “Yes. A grown man who runs his own company and who really likes his cheeseburger wrappers to have positive affirmations written on them. I come up with all of them, usually. It’s your job to write them down. He knows my handwriting, it would never work if I did it.” Wooseok had literally no idea what to say to that information, so he said nothing. He just observed as the guy stuffed the sad, broken burger back into the bag and sat down too, pushing his fallen papers back into a neat stack before he went on.

“He’s going to kill me, because ninety percent of my job as Shinwon's assistant is making sure his McDonald's order is right.” The guy looked up, smiling a bit steadier. “Hi. I'm Jinho. You must be new.”

Wooseok shook his outstretched hand, finding that he couldn't help but smile a little, too.

“I am, yeah. First day. I'm Wooseok.”

Jinho nodded, getting to his feet again as Wooseok did the same. “Well. I hope you aren't fired for this. I'd like to see you around more often,” he said, and then he blushed and looked away and Wooseok could see the moment when he realized what he'd said. Wooseok didn’t answer. He didn’t know how, yet. He did, however, start to think about the whole ridiculous situation.

“Wait. There’s a McDonald’s two blocks from here. Why is Shinwon having it delivered?” he asked, and Jinho chuckled.

“There’s a McDonald’s in the basement of this _building,_ Wooseok. Shinwon doesn’t go out for his own food. Like, ever. He has things to do,” Jinho finished.

Wooseok rolled his eyes. “We all have things to do,” he muttered, suddenly remembering his idling van parked right outside, with its five undelivered orders slowly cooling off even in their heated containers.

“Mmm,” Jinho hummed softly. Wooseok wondered if that was just the standard response around here. Maybe it was in the job description. _Mmm_ s at all times.

Jinho tossed the bag into the nearest trash can, taking the few steps back towards the elevators Wooseok had burst out of. When Wooseok didn’t follow, Jinho looked back at him over his shoulder as the elevator doors opened.

“Well, are you coming?”

*

When they reached the basement floor, Jinho led Wooseok through the corridors filled with shops and restaurants easily, dragging him by his t-shirt when his feet didn’t want to move, stuck to the floor with amazement. Wooseok had never seen any place like this before. He hadn’t known there could be entire little worlds under busy office buildings, ones you could get lost in if you had the time. Not that he had the time to be doing this now, whatever they were doing. But, he was doing it anyway.

Eventually, they ended up at the McDonald’s that operated at the very end of the main hall. Jinho re-ordered Shinwon’s food quickly, turned down Wooseok’s offer to give him his last few bills to pay for it, and they were back in the elevator before Wooseok even had time to think. Jinho handed the bag to Wooseok and did a brief search through the pocket of his jacket. For the first time, Wooseok noticed how nicely Jinho was dressed, in a suit and tie that probably cost more than he would make in several months at this job, if he was allowed to keep it. Jinho’s suit looked expensive, and it also looked really, really good on him. It was...distracting. Wooseok was distracted.

He was so distracted, in fact, that when Jinho handed him an open permanent marker, he nearly swiped the thing across his cheek in surprise. Wooseok recovered just in time, while Jinho dug around in the new McDonald’s bag and extracted Shinwon’s burger triumphantly.

“Here. Write a note.”

Wooseok stared at him blankly. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Jinho shook his head emphatically. “I’m really not. You made this mess. You clean it up. We have four more floors. Write the note.”

Wooseok took the pen from him, frowning. “I don’t know what to say. You always come up with this stuff, right?”

Jinho rolled his eyes. “I’m on vacation today. Say whatever. Say a nice thing you wanted to say to someone else today.”

Wooseok looked at Jinho, and Jinho looked at Wooseok, and then Wooseok blushed and looked away and wrote quickly, tossing the burger back in the bag when he was done and thrusting the (now closed) pen back at Jinho. He hoped to hell that Jinho wouldn’t pull it back out and look at it before he had the chance to escape. Naturally, that hope was all in vain.

The elevator dinged on the top floor and the doors opened again just as Jinho read the words to himself silently.

 

_You have the nicest smile. I hope I can see it more often._

 

Frantically, Wooseok hurried out of the elevator before Jinho did, stopping in the middle of the empty hallway when he realized what he’d done, that he needed to get right back in and go back down to the lobby and leave this place before he embarrassed himself any further. Jinho was just looking at him when their eyes met again, the expression on his face unreadable, except that it was accompanied by a shy little grin that Wooseok chose not to allow him a single ounce of hope.

Instead, he got back on the elevator as casually as he could, and Jinho stepped off, and just as the doors were closing to carry Wooseok back to the bottom floor, while his eyes were still glued to the ceiling to avoid the humiliation of Jinho’s gentle amusement, Wooseok heard Jinho call out to him.

“See you later, Wooseok…”

The doors shut, and Wooseok pressed himself against one corner of the elevator, closed his eyes, and didn’t move for the duration of the ride. He was too busy replaying every detail of his astounding failure on a loop in his mind.

*

Miraculously, the van was still there. Still idling, in the very same place Wooseok had parked it at the curb in front of the building. He got in gratefully, checking the time on his phone. It was just after two in the afternoon, but he felt like he’d spent hours with Jinho, instead of barely half of one. He’d almost forgotten about all the other deliveries, until the phone still in his hand buzzed with a new message.

 

_Did you survive, kid?_

 

Wooseok laughed a little, fastening his seatbelt and shifting the car into drive as he dialed Hwitaek. There was only one ring before his supervisor picked up.

“I guess that’s a yes. Was Jinho there?”

Wooseok suddenly had great difficulty swallowing, but he managed it eventually.

“Yeah, he was there. Do you, uh...do you know him well?” Wooseok asked carefully, very aware that if he were too obvious, no good would come of it. It was likely no good would come of it either way, but his curiosity was winning out. Also, Hwitaek was answering, and Wooseok was lost in his thoughts about Jinho and forgetting to listen.

“...went to college together. He’s a nice guy. Landed a sweet job, even if Shinwon’s a total nightmare. He was in school with us, too. Good heart, possibly, probably, but just...so much to deal with on the surface. Why, do you know Jinho too? Would have thought you were a little young for that, but maybe--”

Hwitaek had an incredible tendency to babble, if left unchecked. Wooseok had only known him a few days, and yet he was very sure of that undeniable fact. He cleared his throat loudly, effectively shutting Hwitaek down for a moment. Long enough to get a few words in.

“No, I don’t know him. I just. He was nice. He was nice to me,” Wooseok said quietly, and Hwitaek hummed in agreement. Thankfully, he changed the subject after that, reminding Wooseok that his other deliveries were still extremely late, and he’d probably lost all his tips for the day, but Hwitaek assured him that he hadn’t lost his job. He just needed to get it done. They hung up after that, and the rest of Wooseok’s stops went off without a hitch.

*

Working part-time at Hwitaek’s delivery service was exactly what Wooseok needed. It was his first semester of college, he was bored and lonely and stressed and most of all poor, and when he’d seen the flyer on the bulletin board in the student commons, he’d decided to give it a shot. He’d never quite heard of an idea like Hwitaek’s before, but he had to admit it was genius. Sending someone to pick up fast food and cheaper meals and have them delivered to your house was probably a godsend for a lot of clients. Apart from Shinwon, who could have just taken the elevator down to the basement and gotten his cheeseburger fix. But that was neither here nor there.

Wooseok didn’t really care about Shinwon’s odd habits, because he learned quickly that those odd habits meant that he got to see Jinho an awful lot. Basically, every single day of the week.

Every day, an order would come through from a familiar e-mail address. It was always for McDonald’s. It was always for the same meal: Big Mac combo, _emphatically no pickles,_ medium Coke, no ice. Cheerful, positive note to be handwritten on the wrapper.

Wooseok never made the pickle mistake again.

Before he knew it, three months had passed. Three months of the job, of making deliveries every day after his classes. Three months of seeing Jinho every day, in his perfect suits, with his sweet, sometimes wry smile. Three months of chatting with Jinho every time he arrived with Shinwon’s lunch, of learning as much as he could about him.

Wooseok found out that Jinho was indeed older than him, even though he looked younger. He had a baby face, and he was small in stature. Wooseok was huge. He hated it sometimes, how uncoordinated his limbs were, how awkward his movements could be. He’d hated it the minute he shot up at the age of thirteen, and passed all the boys and girls he knew at school in height. But somehow, when he was around Jinho, he barely felt the differences between them. They understood each other. They had the same sense of humor and a few things in common. Some days, Wooseok thought that the biggest thing they had in common was a crush on each other.

He thought that, on his more confident days. On the days when he brought Shinwon’s food and Jinho peeked at the message of the day before Wooseok left. Wooseok had started to pen them more carefully onto the wrappers, spelling out each word less and less sloppily. Some days, he even drew little pictures on the wrapper under the words. Some days, just a smiley face. He wondered how long it took Jinho to figure out that they were all for him, instead of Shinwon. Wooseok wondered if it was, _Your new haircut looks really nice,_ or maybe _The best things come in small packages_ that sealed the deal.

Either way, things began to shift between them, subtly and slowly. Jinho began to meet Wooseok in the lobby when he arrived, so they could take the elevator up together. Just so they could have that extra few minutes to spend with each other.

After a while, Wooseok knew Jinho just about as well as he knew anyone. He knew when Jinho was having a good day, and when he was having a not so great day. He knew about Jinho’s boyfriend, and he knew the day they broke up, because Jinho was trying so hard not to cry while they stood in the elevator that Wooseok couldn’t help but pull him into a big hug and hold him until he let the whole story out.

So three months passed, and then four and five, and Jinho was there every single day, Monday through Friday, until one Friday afternoon, he wasn’t.

Jinho wasn’t in the lobby when Wooseok came with Shinwon’s order, so he took the elevator up alone. Jinho wasn’t at reception, waiting for him, apologizing for not being downstairs, because he was having such a busy day up on the top floor.

Wooseok frowned, clutching the bag. He’d written a very important message today. He made his way over to the girl who sat behind the front desk. She glanced up as he approached, smiling perkily.

“Hi there! How can I help you today?”

Wooseok cleared his throat. “Uh, I have...Mr. Ko's lunch? Usually Jinho meets me out here to get it, but he’s not here today, and…” He trailed off, unsure of where to go next with his train of thought.

Thankfully, the receptionist saved him from himself quickly. “Ah, yes. I think it’s just Mr. Ko back there today. I’ll call him for you.” She turned away to dial Shinwon’s office, and Wooseok commenced having a full-on panic attack.

Not once, in the last five months, had he ever actually _met_ Shinwon. Mr. Ko. Whatever. He had every reason to believe that the guy was beyond intimidating, a mess of a man-child that made Jinho’s life a living hell. He had every reason not to like him, and so, when Shinwon emerged less than a minute later, a wide smile on his face, Wooseok was prepared for the worst.

Instead, he greeted Wooseok warmly. “Hello! You must be Wooseok. Jinho’s told me a lot about you. Please, come back to my office. Thank you so much for bringing my lunch,” Shinwon said, opening the glass double doors to the back offices and grandly ushering Wooseok inside. He went automatically, mostly because he was still distracted, wondering where Jinho was and why Shinwon was being so nice and wondering all sorts of other things, and he wondered them all the way down the hall, until he turned into an office that was easily six times larger than his dorm room, and Shinwon shut the door behind them.

He took the McDonald’s bag from Wooseok, still smiling. “Please, have a seat.” He gestured to one of the four chairs lined up in front of his desk. Wooseok sat.

Shinwon placed the bag on his desk, and then he sat down. They regarded each other silently, until Wooseok’s impatience broke the silence for them.

“Where’s Jinho?” he questioned, because he had a lot of other deliveries and he really wanted to know. Like, now.

A smile quirked at the corner of Shinwon’s mouth. “He’s sick. He called in today. First time in three years.”

Wooseok breathed a sigh of relief. He was just sick. He wasn’t fired, he hadn’t quit. Sick was okay. He would be back on Monday.

Shinwon opened the bag with his food, sipping from his Coke as he took out his Big Mac. As always, there was a message on the wrapper. But of all the days for Jinho to be sick, all the days for him to not be here, not to see this…

“‘ _Want to go out with me sometime?_ ’” Shinwon read carefully, and Wooseok blushed all the way to the tips of his ears. “I assume that message wasn’t for me,” he continued, not unkindly.

Wooseok shook his head.

“Jinho’s a good guy, Wooseok. And he likes you a lot. But I need you to understand that if you hurt him, I have the power to hire someone to kill you. I won’t do it myself. But I’ll get someone else to do it. Understand?” Shinwon leaned over his desk as he spoke, fingers laced together and elbows resting on the polished wood.

Wooseok nodded mutely.

Shinwon opened his burger and took a bite, chewing and wiping his mouth. “You seem like a nice kid. I hope you don’t think I’m too much of an ass. I’m sure you’ve heard...things,” Shinwon said, non-specifically. Wooseok wasn’t sure whether or not he should nod at that, even though it was true.

There was a pause while Shinwon took a few more bites, and then he laughed. “So how many of those messages have actually been for me, in five months?” he questioned, and Wooseok blushed all over again.

He thought about it, and came up with an answer. “Maybe...maybe one? There was one day that Jinho told me that you were upset because your dog was sick and...I drew you the picture of a dog and wrote ‘ _Man’s best friend needs a best friend like you’_?”

Shinwon pressed his lips together, nodding. “Thank you.”

They sat in silence again after that, until Shinwon went on. “Jinho will be back on Monday, I’m sure. Just keep that message on deck until then, okay, kid?”

Wooseok stood, adjusting his snapback on his head. “Yeah. I will. It’s been there for long enough already, a few more days can’t hurt,” he mused, and Shinwon grinned, opening his desk drawer.

“Before you go, Wooseok…” he began, scribbling on a blank check in the ledger he’d pulled out. He signed it with a flourish, handing it to Wooseok, who took it without a word. After a moment, he glanced up again, confused.

“What is this? You’ve already tipped me for today, and this is way too much, Mr. Ko.”

Shinwon waved a hand dismissively. “Call me Shinwon. And it’s not a tip. I want you to use it to buy Jinho some flowers on Monday, when you come back. He likes lilies,” Shinwon advised sagely.

“I...okay, Shinwon,” Wooseok replied, giving up. It wasn’t a bad idea, after all, and he definitely didn’t have the extra money for a gesture like that right now. He knew he probably didn’t need to make the gesture, that Jinho liked him no matter what, but...Jinho liked lilies. And Wooseok liked Jinho.

Wooseok smiled all the way down the elevator and back into the van.

*

When he scrolled through his list of deliveries again, he couldn’t help noticing there’d been some changes. Namely, all of the stops he'd had after this were gone, except one. The last one, the one he hadn’t even bothered looking at the information for, because he didn’t care about any of his stops except for the one where he got to see Jinho.

Frowning, Wooseok got out of the van and went around to the back doors, opening them. All the food was gone, except one small bag. Just then, his phone vibrated with a text from Hwitaek.

 

_Don’t freak out. I sent Changgu to come get all your other orders._

 

Wooseok scratched the back of his head, blowing out a gush of air.

 

_Why?_

 

It wasn’t long before Hwitaek’s response came through.

 

_Check the name on that last one._

 

Wooseok went back to the app where all his delivery information was stored, pressing buttons on his phone screen until he got to what he was looking for.

 

_One extra large chicken noodle soup with crackers_

_Please don’t come inside, I’m sick. Just leave it by the door. Tell Wooseok I said hi._

_Jo Jinho_

 

Wooseok had begun smiling from ear to ear the moment he saw Jinho’s name. He memorized the address underneath it. Jinho didn’t live that far from where Wooseok did, on campus. Quickly, he sent a reply to Hwitaek.

 

_Thanks, Hui. I promise I won’t stay too long. I’ll have the van back soon._

 

Predictably, Hwitaek’s response was as quick as ever.

 

_Don’t worry about it, kid. Take your time._

 

Wooseok tossed his phone onto the passenger seat. He knew a little flower shop right on the edge of campus. He just hoped they had lilies.

*

Twenty minutes later, Wooseok stood outside Jinho’s building, lilies in one hand and his soup in the other. He’d recreated the message that had originally adorned Shinwon’s burger. He was nervous now, so nervous that he was bouncing back and forth from foot to foot and just watching people go in and out of the building, never following any of them in. Of course, he would be ignoring Jinho’s instructions to just leave the soup by the door. He didn’t care if he got whatever plague Jinho was currently carrying. It would be worth it, if he said yes when he read Wooseok’s note.

Wooseok carried that thought all the way inside and up three flights of stairs, barely noticing how winded he felt as he stood in front of Jinho’s apartment, how he was breathing hard and fast. He could barely tell, because all he could hear and feel was the beating of his heart, the way it was pounding in his chest. He was in new territory, both literally and figuratively. He’d never been here before, Jinho had never invited him here or even suggested that they see each other outside their daily interaction. Maybe he didn’t want Wooseok here at all. Wooseok chose to believe otherwise. He knew Jinho. He knew the way he smiled when he meant it, when it was for real. Wooseok knew how many times he’d made Jinho smile like that. So, he had to believe.

With that belief spurring him on, Wooseok knocked on Jinho’s door, three times, rapidly. For a second, he thought Jinho might be asleep, resting his illness away. But then, he heard a groan, followed by slow shuffling towards the door, and a soft _thump_ at the end of it all. He nearly chuckled, picturing a sick Jinho leaning his body against the other side of the door that separated them. He held it in, and waited for Jinho to say something.

It took a while. It took longer than Wooseok expected, and he was just starting to get worried about Jinho, when a low, husky, snot-filled version of the light and airy voice he’d come to know so well sounded from inside Jinho’s apartment.

“Yeah?”

Wooseok licked his lips, taking a breath. Now or never.

“Jinho? It’s me, Wooseok.”

There was another pause, but this one was shorter.

“...I told them not to send you.”

Wooseok frowned a little. “Why?”

He heard Jinho sigh, and then another _thump,_ like he was banging his head on the door gently. It was really sort of adorable.

“Because I didn’t want you to get sick, and I don’t want you to see me like this. I’m all gross.”

Wooseok smiled a little. “I don’t care, Jinho. I want to see you. I want to...I want to take care of you. With. With this soup, I mean. And...and I have a message for you. It’s important.”

“Ugh,” Jinho replied, and Wooseok liked him so much. So, _so_ much. “Wooseok, that’s really nice, but...you can give me the message on Monday, okay? Just leave the soup.”

Wooseok rolled his eyes. He wasn’t giving up.

“I have something else for you,” he said finally. “Another present.”

Jinho sniffled, behind the door. “Fine, I guess.” Wooseok heard the sounds of the door being unlocked, and rustling that indicated Jinho was stepping away from it. “Come in, then.”

So Wooseok did.

When he opened the door, Jinho was still standing a few steps back from it. He looked even smaller than usual, a giant sweater wrapped around his shoulders and pajamas on and slippers on his feet. Wooseok could see that his nose was red from blowing it so much. He could see that Jinho really did not feel well at all, and for a moment, he regretted being so stubborn about coming in. He wondered if he’d made Jinho mad.

That thought melted away as Wooseok watched Jinho’s eyes settle on the flowers he still held in one hand.

“Lilies…” he murmured, taking them when Wooseok held out his hand, still not daring to move any closer. Jinho glanced up at Wooseok blearily. “You talked to Shinwon?” he guessed, and Wooseok blinked at him, unsure of the best way to respond.

“No,” he said at first, but then Jinho gave him a Look, and Wooseok sighed. “Yes. But. The message I wrote is all me. For you.”

He reached in the bag and pulled out the soup, looking at the words he’d written on top and smiling again before he fixed his gaze on Jinho, still standing motionless, his nose brushing the tops of the lilies Wooseok had given him.

Wooseok took a deep breath. “You know that, right? All the messages were for you. All the things I said about how handsome you were and how I liked your smile and everything...I meant it all,” Wooseok admitted, his words rushed. He was nervous, although he was aware that the things he was saying had been obvious for a while, and Jinho knew them already.

To emphasize the point, Jinho nodded, smiling as best he could. “I know,” he croaked softly, lowering his eyes to the giant cup of chicken noodle soup Wooseok was handing him. He took it, glancing down at the words. Wooseok saw the faint blush come over his face. He was positive it was a blush, and not fever. Almost positive.

“‘ _Want to go out with me sometime?_ ’” Jinho read quietly, and he bit his lip and smiled at the letters in front of him, before he turned his eyes back to Wooseok. “Really?” Jinho asked.

Wooseok nodded, watching him hold both the flowers and the soup and continuing to disappear into his sweater and blush and he didn’t think he’d ever been such a goner for anyone before. Definitely not as willingly.

“Really,” he said finally. “I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time. You want to?” Wooseok asked, just to make sure.

Jinho nodded. “Yeah. Just...maybe when I’m not a sneezing, coughing bag of disease?” he asked hopefully, and Wooseok laughed.

“Yeah. You’re on.”

Jinho smiled, and it was easier this time, Wooseok could tell. But, there was disappointment in his eyes, too. “You’d better go…” Jinho said, a little regretfully.

Wooseok shrugged, shaking his head. “Nah. I don’t have anywhere else to be. You’re my only delivery today.” It was close enough to the truth.

Jinho frowned, then. “You’ll get sick. And it’ll be boring, all I’ve been doing is sleeping,” he pointed out, but Wooseok just shrugged again.

“I won’t get sick. And if I do, it’ll be worth it. If you want to sleep, that’s okay. I’ll come help you into bed and then I’ll hang out on the couch and watch TV or something. I want to. I want to be around. Be here for you,” he insisted, and he realized halfway through the words that he really, _really_ meant them, and just that realization made Wooseok blush all over again.

Jinho tried to laugh a little, but it just made him cough some more, and he let Wooseok lead him down the hall to his bedroom. Let Wooseok help him into bed, all but tuck him in and take his slippers off and set them at the edge of the bed perfectly lined up. Wooseok left for a moment to put the soup up in the fridge so Jinho could have it later, and when he got back, Jinho was already mostly asleep.

Wooseok smiled quietly, flipping the light switch off and heading towards the living room. Jinho’s voice, small but satisfied, floated into his ear just as he made it to the doorway.

“I’m glad it was you, Wooseok. Really glad.”

Wooseok’s smile got bigger.

“Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello I am here! If you liked my first fic for the Pentagon fandom, let me know on [Tumblr](http://bulletproof-bad-writing.tumblr.com) <3


End file.
